Less Than 50% of Physicians Own Their Practice

By Mary Kate Nelson | June 1, 2017

For the first time ever, less than 50% of practicing U.S. physicians own their practice, according to a recent report from the American Medical Association (AMA).

Specifically, in 2016, 47.1% of physicians owned their practice, 47.1% of physicians were employed and 5.9% were independent contractors. By comparison, 50.8% of physicians had an ownership stake in a medical practice in 2014, and 53.2% of physicians had an ownership stake in 2012, the report says.

For the most part, however, physicians are still employed by other physicians. About 55.8% of doctors, the report says, work in practices that are entirely owned by other doctors.

The percentage of employed physicians is growing as more younger physicians choose this path, AMA noted. Nearly 66% of physicians younger than 40 years old were working as employees in 2016.